Ghana and the Arts: The Chale Wote Street Art Festival

The Chale Wote Street Art Festival took place on July 16th 2011 in Jamestown, Accra.

Chale Wote, a term that roughly translates as “Friend, let’s go!”, also refers to the rubber flip-flops everyone in Ghana seems to wear when in a hurry.

According to its organizers, Accra[dot]Alt, the French Embassy, and the Institut Français, the Chale Wote Festival “is the collective effort of many young people—ranging from artists, musicians, filmmakers, writers to designers, students and activists—who are working together to produce Accra’s first annual street art festival.” Participants transformed areas of Jamestown, including the old Kingsway Building (pictured below), into canvases for vibrantly colored murals!

photo credit: Foundation for Contemporary Art, Ghana

How were children from the community involved? It looks like they were right in the middle of all the activity! We selected a few images to share from the many fine photographs posted by Nana Kofi Acquah, Gerard Nartey, Francis Kokoroko and others. Please visit their websites to see more images of this event.

photo credit: Foundation for Contemporary Art, Ghana

photo credit: Foundation for Contemporary Art, Ghana

photo credit: Francis Kokoroko

photo credit: Francis Kokoroko

photo credit: Nana Kofi Acquah

photo credit: Nana Kofi Acquah

Photo Credit: Gerard Nartey

photo credit: Foundation for Contemporary Art, Ghana

We are looking forward to many more innovative art events like this around Ghana!